@tursiops interesting... my mother wanted me to help get an mp3 file on her phone as a ringtone and I am just now realizing that I can't without maybe iTunes? Even then... I just don't understand. Why can't I just access the onboard storage device?

@kev@poetgrant well I have a lot of really obscure songs and artists that I don't think any streaming service would have. Also I don't want to suddenly realize that I cannot listen to someone because it's been pulled from the catalog. I also use plex for my movies and series so it's quite convenient.

@kev@tursiops@poetgrantI have an extensive library of ripped CDs and purchased MP3 files that I like to keep on an SD card on my phone. I listen to several music podcasts for newer music, and I subscribe to Amazon Music to check out new releases that I might want to pick up.

But I'm also one of those weirdos that prefers an audio jack and wired headphones, too. YMMV 👍🎧🎵🎶

@kev@poetgrant@tursiops Haha, yes people still do that. You know, control and ownership and all that. The streaming services are certainly convenient but a content deal going south is all it takes for your favorite band's songs to disappear in the blink of an eye. Plus that can add up pretty quickly if you have to subscribe to multiple streaming services to get what you want.

Also, some of us have a pretty through digital music collection that we've built up and curated over time.

@kev@tursiops I just don't see the efficiency in paying a monthly fee for something so ethereal as Spotify and etc. I have a lot of.music that I purchased over the years and I don't really see the point in paying to access the music I already own.

@poetgrant@kev@tursiops you can have any qualms you like about renting your media or not wanting to stream content or whatever, but from an end-user perspective of just listening to some damned music it really won't get more *effective* than Spotify.

Search for nearly everything and one second later you're listening to the whole catalogue of that artist on shuffle on any of your devices (with cross-device control: play on your PC w/ speakers and remote control it from your phone)

@poetgrant a lot of the time it isn’t music I own. Maybe an album comes out, or a track comes on the radio that I like. I can add them to my library easily. Not to mention the additional value add stuff that Spotify adds, such as generated playlists based off your recent listening habits. I’ve discovered tonnes of artists from that alone.

I’m glad other systems work for you guys, but I personally think the £15/m I pay for a family account is money REALLY well spent.

@kev@poetgrant@tursiops same here, Kev. I own some of the music but mostly I don't, and it's all from scattered albums. Even if I have 5-10 songs from one artist it's rarely from the same album, so buying them all for just those songs is quite a large investment. I could afford one album per month if I gave up Spotify, so it would take me probably a decade to rebuild this library at that rate!

because you don't need to. You get an iPhone with an assumption that you never need to even know you have a local file system.

And for that matter, it still stands in contrast to macOS. Still, that is. With how Apple is going I wouldn't be surprised they'll implement more and more restrictions on that too (accessing only your home folder, for example)